Foldable baby carriage with basket

ABSTRACT

A foldable baby carriage comprises a basket and an operating rod. The basket has a rotary member turnably attached to the foldable baby carriage body, an upper frame attached to the rotary member and extending long toward the rear, and a storage bag suspended from the upper frame. The operating rod connects a portion of the rotary member remote from the axis of rotation to a member which constitutes the baby carriage body. The length and attachment position of the operating rod is selected so that in the folded state of the baby carriage with the rotary member turned following the folding movement of the baby carriage body, the upper frame of the basket is positioned extending substantially vertically.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a foldable baby carriage and particularly to afoldable baby carriage with a basket.

If a baby carriage is provided with a basket, this is very convenientfor shopping. For this reason, there have been proposed a variety ofbaby carriages having a basket.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In the case of a foldable baby carriage, it is desired that a basketattached thereto be folded following the folding movement of the babycarriage body and that the folded basket be received in the spaceoccupied by the baby carriage body or not be protruding out of saidoccupied space.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a baby carriagewith a basket which meets the desire described above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A foldable baby carriage according to the invention has a basket and anoperating rod. The basket comprises a rotary member turnably attached tothe foldable baby carriage body, an upper frame attached to said rotarymember and extending rearwardly, and a storage bag suspended from saidupper frame. The operating rod connects the portion of said rotarymember remote from the center of rotation to the baby carriage body.

The length and attachment position of the operating rod are selected sothat when the baby carriage is in the folded state established as therotary member is turned following the folding movement of the babycarriage, the upper frame is positioned to extend in a substantiallyvertical direction.

When the baby carriage is in the opened state, since the upper frameextends rearwardly, the storage bag forms a large opening in the upperportion thereof. Therefore, purchased articles can be easily taken inand out. Further, when the baby carriage is operated for folding, therotary member is automatically rotated by the action of the operatingrod, and in the folded state of the baby carriage, the upper frame ispositioned substantially vertically extended. Therefore, there is nospecial operation needed for folding the basket. Further, in the foldedstate of the baby carriage, the upper frame extends substantiallyvertically. Hence, it does not protrude out of the occupied space somuch.

These objects and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of thepresent invention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of the present invention when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of an embodiment of the invention in itsunfolded or opened state;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing the folded state of a babycarriage shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing the construction of partsassociated with a seat support rod 16 and a rear leg 10 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing the folded state of theconstruction shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing the construction of partsassociated with the rotary member 30 and upper frame 31 of a basket 29shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing the folded state of theconstruction shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a view showing an actual construction of the rotary member 30and upper frame 31;

FIG. 8 is a view looking from above at the arrangement of FIG. 7 showingthe upper frame 31 and upper frame connecting members 34a and 34b;

FIG. 9 is a view looking from behind at the central portions of theupper frame connecting members 34a and 34b shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line X--X in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a view showing the folded state of the construction shown inFIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a diagrammatic view showing the bottom portion of the bag 32of the basket 29;

FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic view showing another embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 14 is a view showing an actual construction of an operating rod33a, 33b shown in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a view showing the bent or folded state of the operating rod33a, 33b shown in FIG. 13;

FIG. 16 is a diagrammatic view showing another embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 17 is a diagrammatic view showing the folded state of a babycarriage shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a diagrammatic view showing a further embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 19 is a diagrammatic view showing the folded state of a babycarriage shown in FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a diagrammatic view showing still another embodiment of theinvention; and

FIG. 21 is a diagrammatic view showing the folded state of a babycarriage shown in FIG. 20.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 2 are views diagrammatically showing an embodiment of theinvention. An illustrated baby carriage 1 is constructed so that itsfront to back dimension is reduced as it is folded out of the open stateshown in FIG. 1 to assume the folded state shown in FIG. 2. The basicconstruction of such a baby carriage body is disclosed in JapanesePatent Application Laying-Open No. 57574/1981 and Japanese Utility ModelApplication Laying-Open No. 95966/1981.

First, referring to FIG. 1, the basic skeleton of the baby carriage 1will be described. The illustrated baby carriage 1 compriseshorizontally extending handrails 2, front legs 6 turnably connected attheir upper ends to the handrails 2 through shafts 3, rotatably support.Front wheels 5 are rotatably secured to the lower ends of the front legs6 by axles 4. Furthermore, rear legs 10 turnably connected at theirupper ends to the handrails 2 through shafts 7. Rear wheels 9 aresecured to the lower ends of the rear legs 10 by shafts 8. Push rodsupport angle members 12 are turnably attached to substantially middleportions of the rear legs 10 through shafts 11. Push rods 14 areturnably connected at their lower ends to the push rod support anglemembers 12 through a shaft 13. Seat support rods 16 are turnablyconnected at their respective front ends to the front legs 6 throughshafts 15 and at their respective rear ends to the push rod supportangle members 12 through the shafts 13. The handrails 2, front legs 6,rear legs 10, push rods 14 and seat support rods 16 are each provided asa pair, whereby the two members of each pair are arranged on oppositelateral sides of the baby carriage.

In the opened state of the baby carriage 1 as shown in FIG. 1, turningmovement of the push rod support angle members 12 is inhibited byconventional means, thereby locking the opened state of the babycarriage. When it is desired to fold the baby carriage, the locked stateof the push rod support angle members 12 is canceled and then the pushrod support angle members 12 are operated so that they are turnedclockwise as viewed in FIG. 1. In response thereto, the front and rearlegs 6 and 10 are moved toward each other, until the folded state shownin FIG. 2 is obtained. As shown in FIG. 2, in the folded state of thebaby carriage, the front and rear wheels 5 and 9 are at the same level,thereby enabling the baby carriage 1 to stand by itself. The detailedconstruction of many of the elements shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown anddescribed more clearly with reference to FIGS. 3 to 12 below.

FIG. 3 is a view diagrammatically showing the construction of partsassociated with the pair of seat support rods 16 and the pair of rearlegs 10. As shown, a central connecting member 18a, 18b is connectedbetween the pair of seat support rods 16. The central connecting member18a, 18b is turnably connected at its left-hand end through a shaft 19to the seat support rod 16 positioned on the left-hand surface of thebaby carriage and at its right-hand end through a shaft 20 to the seatsupport rod 16 positioned on the right-hand surface of the babycarriage. Further, the central connecting member 18a, 18b comprises twomembers 18a and 18b which are hinged together through a shaft 21. Inthis manner, the central connecting member 18a, 18b is foldable at itsmiddle in the direction of arrow A.

A rear log connecting member 22a, 22b is connected between the pair ofrear legs 10. The rear leg connecting member 22a, 22b is turnablyconnected at its left-hand end through a shaft 23 to the rear leg 10positioned on the left-hand surface of the baby carriage and at itsright-hand end through a shaft 24 to the rear leg 10 positioned on theright-hand surface of the baby carriage. Further, as shown, the rear legconnecting member 22a, 22b comprises two members 22a and 22b which arehinged together through a shaft 25. In this manner, the rear legconnecting member 22a, 22b is foldable at its middle in the direction ofarrow B.

As shown, prop rods 26a and 26b are connected between the centralconnecting member 18a, 18b and the rear leg connecting member 22a, 22b.One prop rod 26a is turnably connected at its front end through a shaft27 to the left-hand central connecting member 18a positioned on theleft-hand side, and at its rear end through a shaft 25 to the middleportion of the rear leg connecting member 22a, 22b. The other propmember 26b is turnably connected at its front end through a shaft 28 tothe right-hand central connecting member 18b positioned on theright-hand side, and at its rear end through a shaft 25 to the middleportion of the rear leg connecting member 22a, 22b.

As the baby carriage 1 is folded, the central connecting member 18a, 18band the rear connecting member 22a, 22b move into their folded positionsshown in FIG. 4. Therefore, by the action of the prop rods 26a and 26b,the central connecting member 18a, 18b is folded in the direction ofarrow A, while the rear leg connecting member 22a, 22b is folded in thedirection of arrow B.

As shown, the folding of the central connecting member 18a, 18b and rearleg connecting members 22a, 22b causes the members 10, 16 positioned onthe left-hand surface of the baby carriage 1 to move toward the members10, 16 positioned on the right-hand surface. Thus, the baby carriageshown in FIGS. 1 to 4 is reduced in its front to back dimension when itis folded.

As for a basket to be installed in a baby carriage, the greater thestorage capacity, the better. However, it should be avoided to installin a baby carriage a basket having so great a storage capacity as tocause inconvenience in moving the baby carriage. With this taken intoaccount, it is believed that a large space defined below the seat of ababy carriage is suitable for installing a basket having a great storagecapacity. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, to make effectiveuse of large space defined below the seat of the baby carriage toinstall a basket having a large storage capacity, the shape of the proprods 26a and 26b has been improved.

More particularly, in the baby carriage described in Japanese PatentApplication Laying-Open No. 57574/1981 and Japanese Utility ModelApplication Laying-Open No. 95966/1981, the prop rods extend linearlyfrom the respective point of connection with the central connecting rodto the respective point of connection with the rear leg connectingmember. However, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the prop rods26a and 26b have a bent shape. In FIG. 1, the bent portion is shown atC. The bent portion C of the prop rods 26a and 26b is positionedrelatively forwardly of the rear leg connecting member 22a, 22b. Theprop rod portion between the bent portion C and the point of connectionto the rear leg connecting member 22a, 22b extends substantiallyhorizontally.

By shaping the prop rods 26a and 26b as described above, there isdefined a relatively large space between the prop rods 26a and 26b andthe rear leg 10. A basket having a large storage capacity can beinstalled by utilizing this large space. In the illustrated embodiment,a basket 29 adapted to be folded in response to the folding movement ofthe baby carriage is installed by utilizing the space defined betweenthe prop rods 26a and 26b and the rear leg 10.

Referring to FIG. 1, the basket 29 comprises a pair of rotary members 30turnably attached to the push rod support angle members 12 through theshafts 13, a pair of upper frames 31 fixedly attached to said rotarymembers 30 and extending rearwardly, and a storage bag 32 suspended fromsaid rotary members 30 and said upper frames 31. Further, toautomatically fold the basket 29 as the baby carriage is folded, anoperating rod 33 is connected between the rotary member 30 and thehandrail 2.

When the folding operation of the baby carriage is started from thestate shown in FIG. 1, the rotary member 30 is pulled by the operatingrod 33 and is turned counterclockwise as viewed in the figure. With thisturning movement of the rotary member 30, the upper frame 31 is turnedtoward the push rod 14, until the push rod 14 and the upper frame 31 arepositioned close to each other, as shown in FIG. 2. In other words, theupper frame 31 is positioned extending substantially vertically. Sincethe storage bag 32 is made of a soft material, it assumes a flat formand hangs down in the folded state shown in FIG. 2.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views showing the skeleton of the basket29. First, referring to FIG. 5, an upper frame connecting member 34a,34b is connected between the pair of upper frames 31. The upperconnecting member 34a, 34b is turnably connected at its left-hand endthrough a shaft 35 to the upper frame 31 positioned on the left-handside and at its right-hand end through a shaft 36 to the upper frame 31positioned on the right-hand side. Further, the upper frame connectingmember 34a, 34b comprises two members 34a and 34b which are hingedtogether through a shaft 37. In this manner, the upper frame connectingmember 34a, 34b is foldable at its middle in the direction of arrow D.The purpose of making the skeleton construction of the basket 29 in theform shown, is to reduce the front to back dimension of the basket 29 tobe reduced in the folded state. More particularly, as shown in FIG. 6,in the folded state of the basket 29, the upper frame connecting member34a, 34b is folded at the middle, whereby the pair of upper frames 31are moved toward each other.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the baby carriage is in the opened state, partof the basket 29 is positioned in the space defined between the proprods 26a and 26b and the rear legs 10. Therefore, the storage capacityof the basket 29 can be made large while the rearward extension of thebasket 29 is kept relatively short.

FIG. 7 shows the construction of parts associated with the rotary member30 positioned on the right-hand side of the baby carriage. As shown, therotary member 30 is turnably attached to the push rod support anglemember 12 by the shaft 13, and the upper frame 31 is fixedly attached tothe rotary member 30 through a pin 38. The rotary member 30 has anupwardly projecting abutment portion 39. When the baby carriage 1 is inthe opened state, the abutment portion 39 abuts against the seat supportrod 16, thereby inhibiting the upper frame 31 from turning clockwise asviewed in the figure. Further, the attachment hole 46 of the rotarymember 30 shown in FIG. 7 has an operating rod 33 attached thereto. Therod 33 is visible in FIG. 1, but not in FIG. 7.

FIG. 8 is a view showing the pair of upper frames 31 and the upper frameconnecting member 34a, 34b. FIG. 9 is a view looking from behind at themiddle portion of the upper frame connecting member 34a, 34b, and FIG.10 is a sectional view taken along the line X--X in FIG. 9.

As shown, the left-hand end of the upper frame connecting member 34bpositioned on the right-hand side has an extension 40, while theright-hand end of the upper frame connecting member 34a positioned onthe left-hand side has a reception recess 41 adapted to receive saidextension 40. These members 40 and 41 are turnably connected togetherthrough a shaft 37. Further, the upper frame connecting member 34apositioned on the left-hand side and the upper frame connecting member34b positioned on the right-hand side have abutment walls 47 and 48,respectively, adapted to abut against each other. The upper frameconnecting member 34a, 34b can be folded in the direction of arrow Dshown in FIG. 8, but its folding in the opposite direction is inhibitedby the abutment walls 47 and 48 abutting against each other. FIG. 11 isa view showing the bent state of the upper frame connecting member 34a,34b. When the upper frame connecting member 34a, 34b is folded at themiddle as shown, the pair of upper frames 31 move toward each other,whereby the widthwise dimension of the basket 29 is reduced.

FIG. 12 is a view diagrammatically showing the bottom surface of thestorage bag 32 of the basket. The bottom surface of the storage bag 32preferably has stiffener sheets 42, 43, 44 and 45 attached thereto toretain the proper shape of the bag. The stiffener sheets are in the formof four elongated sheets 42, 43, 44 and 45. The bottom surface isbendable at each region between adjacent stiffener sheets. The purposeof providing four separate stiffener sheets 42, 43, 44 and 45 is to makeit possible to fold the bag 32 to reduce its front to back dimension.

FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic view showing another embodiment of theinvention. The baby carriage shown in FIG. 13 is the same inconstruction, except for the operating rod, as the baby carriage shownin FIG. 1. Therefore, like elements are denoted by like referencenumbers and a description thereof is omitted.

In the baby carriage shown in FIG. 13, the operating rod 33a, 33bcomprises two members which are turnably connected together through ashaft 49. In other words, the operating rod 33a, 33b is foldable at themiddle. Therefore, even in the opened state of the baby carrage as shownin FIG. 13, the basket 29 can be folded by turning the rotary members 30and upper frames 31. In FIG. 13, the state of the basket 29 with itsupper frame 31 positioned close to the push rod 14 is shown in phantomlines. The upper frame 31 is held fixed in the phantom line position byconventional means.

FIG. 14 is a view showing a concrete form of the operating rod 33a, 33bshown in FIG. 13. If the operating rod portion 33b positioned above islinearly aligned with the operating rod portion 33a positioned below,this makes it rather difficult to fold them at the joint. For thisreason, the shaft 49 which connects the upper operating rod portion 33band the lower operating rod portion 33a, is positioned rearwardlyoffset, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. By so doing, the operating rodportions 33b and 33a are connected together in a somewhat folded state.Therefore, if the upper frame 31 of the basket is turned upward, theoperating rods 33a, 33b are forwardly bent at the middle without anydifficulty. The forwardly bent state of the operating rods 33a, 33b isshown in FIG. 15.

In the two embodiments described above, the operating rod 33 has beenattached to connect the rotary member 30 and the handrail 2; however,the attachment position of the operating rod 33 can be changed asdesired. In other words, the length and the attachment position of theoperating rod are selected so that the rotary member 30 is turned inoperative association with the folding movement of the baby carriagebody so that in the folded state of the baby carriage, the upper frame31 of the basket 29 is positioned extending substantially vertically.

In a baby carriage shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the operating rod 33connects the front leg 6 and the rotary member 30. Here, and in thefollowing figures, parts having nothing to do with the description areomitted.

In the baby carriage shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, the operating rod 33connects the seat support rod 16 and the rotary member 30.

Further, in a baby carriage sown in FIGS. 20 and 21, the operating rod33 connects the rear leg 10 and the rotary member 30.

The invention has been described as applied to a baby carriage which, inthe folded state, is reduced in the widthwise dimension; however, theinvention is equally applicable also to a baby carriage which, in thefolded state, is not reduced in the widthwise dimension.

Although the present invention has been described and illustrated indetail, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustrationand example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the scopeof the present invention being limited only by the terms of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A foldable baby carriage, comprising foldablecarriage frame means for supporting said carriage, foldable storagemeans for holding articles, means for suspending said foldable storagemeans comprising a rotary member turnably attached at an axis ofrotation to said foldable carriage frame means, upper frame means (31)attached to said rotary member and extending rearwardly for suspendingsaid storage means, and operating rod means (33) pivotally connected toa portion of said rotary member at a connecting position remote fromsaid axis of rotation and to said frame means for manipulating saidmeans for suspending said foldable storage means into an open state fora normal use of said foldable baby carriage and into a folded state bycarrying out a folding movement in response to folding of the carriageframe means for reducing at least one dimension of said foldable babycarriage for storage, and wherein a length and said connecting positionof said operating rod means are selected so that as a result of saidfolding movement of said carriage frame means, said rotary memberrotates to such an extent that said upper frame means attached to saidrotary member is positioned to extend substantially vertically in saidfolded state.
 2. The foldable baby carriage of claim 1, furthercomprising hinge means (49) for said operating rod means to be foldableat substantially the middle of its length.
 3. The foldable baby carriageof claim 1, wherein said foldable carriage frame means further comprisea pair of rearwardly extending handrails, a pair of front legs turnablyconnected at their upper ends to said handrails, a pair of front wheelsrotatably supported at the lower ends of said front legs, a pair of rearlegs turnably connected at their upper ends to said handrails, a pair ofrear wheels rotatably supported at the lower ends of said rear legs, apair of push rod support angle members turnably attached tosubstantially middle portions of said rear legs, a pair of push rodsturnably connected at their lower ends to said push rod support anglemembers, and a pair of seat support rods turnably connected at theirfront ends to said front legs and at their rear ends to said push rodsupport angle members, whereby the arrangement of said push rod supportangle members with said rear legs, said push rods, and said seat supportrods provides that in said opened state of said baby carriage, said pushrod support angle members are in a locked state in which said push rodsupport angle members are inhibited from turning easily from said lockedstate, whereby said opened state of said baby carriage is fixed, andsaid folding movement of said baby carriage is started by canceling saidlocked state of said push rod support angle members by forcibly turningsaid push rod support angle members past said inhibiting.
 4. Thefoldable baby carriage of claim 3, further comprising pivot means forturnably connecting said rotary member to said push rod support anglemember.
 5. The foldable baby carriage of claim 4, whereinsaid operatingrod means is turnably connected at one end thereof to said rotary memberand at the other end thereof to said handrail.
 6. The foldable babycarriage of claim 4, whereinsaid operating rod means is turnablyconnected at one end thereof to said rotary member and at the other endthereof to said front leg.
 7. The foldable baby carriage of claim 4,whereinsaid operating rod means is turnably connected at one end thereofto said rotary member and at the other end thereof to said seat supportrod.
 8. The foldable baby carrage of claim 4, whereinsaid operating rodmeans is turnably connected at one end thereof to said rotary member andat the other end thereof to said rear leg.
 9. The foldable baby carriageof claim 1, wherein said storage means comprise a foldable storage baghaving a bottom comprising at least one stiffener sheet attached to saidbottom for retaining a proper shape of said storage bag.
 10. Thefoldable baby carriage of claim 1, said foldable frame means furthercomprising a pair of seat support rods extending forwardly andrearwardly to support a seat, a central connecting member foldablesubstantially at its middle and connecting between said pair of seatsupport rods, a rear leg connecting member connected between a pair ofrear legs and foldable at its middle, a prop rod connected between saidcentral connecting member and said rear leg connecting member toestablish operative association between a folding movement of saidcentral connecting member and a folding movement of said rear legconnecting member, so that when said baby carriage is folded, saidcentral connecting member and said rear leg connecting member are foldedat their respective middle, whereby the right and left lateral surfacesof said baby carriage move toward each other to reduce a front to backdimension of said baby carriage, and whereby said prop rod has a bentshape with a bent portion positioned relatively forwardly of said rearleg connecting member, and said prop rod extends approximatelyhorizontally from said bent portion to said rear leg connecting member,so that said storage means is positioned above said prop rod.